Ramadhan On-Wheels
(ROW) is an annual project that helps the elderly and low income families of
various races and religions during the Muslim fasting month, which is organized
by the Malay Youth Literary Association (4PM).
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| The group hard at work painting and cleaning. |
Volunteers for the
event were given the opportunity to paint the houses of these beneficiaries. On
the morning of 4th August, members from RP's Malay Dance Group, Dharma Endari and Pentas Karyawan went to their designated venues by 9am.
While members of Dharma Endari were given the chance to be up close with the
families by painting their home and do a makeover for them, members of Pentas
Karyawan spent their day cleaning the 4PM office.
There weren’t any words of
complaint from any of the members because everyone
knew that they were all more than willing to do their bid in this holy month.
The members were happy and proud upon completing their mission
of cleaning, painting and makeover their designated venues.
Nothing beats the
feeling of pleased after hearing words of gratitude from the family and staffs
of 4PM after a hard day of work.
As mentioned above,
there were two main activities featured in this event. On the 11th August 2012,
another exciting journey begins. The members from Pentas Karyawan and Dikir
Barat went to join the rest of the ROW volunteers at ITE Simei College. In this
particular activity, each volunteer will be fetching the family of beneficiary
that was assigned to them. Volunteers will have to follow the family to shop
for groceries or their household items that they need using the vouchers at
Giant Supermarket.
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Volunteers from Pentas Karyawan delivering the goods to the
beneficiaries.
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A member of Pentas
Karyawan, Sheril Nadia Bte Musa from School of Technology for the Arts
commented; “I was glad and happy that I was there to advise them how to shop
smart. I hope they would remember that in their future purchase.”
The volunteers were
encouraged to advise the beneficiaries to purchase better items in terms of
their budget and healthier choices.
Even
though some of the students only managed to do the shopping on behalf of the
beneficiary, it didn’t dampen their spirit, it actually even made them feel
satisfied knowing that they have put a smile on the beneficiaries’ faces.
“I felt that the whole
thing gave me a once in a lifetime experience, that it's refreshing to serve
others and give back to the community. It has also taught me how to open up to
people, which I feel is an essential life skill,” said Luqman Haqim, member of Pentas
Karyawan from Centre for Culture and Communication.
After a long day of shopping,
the journey of being with the families did not end there, the volunteers were
all sitting down having fun while breaking fast together with their ‘newly
found families’.
